The Complete Persepolis: Blog Post #2

How are the Islamic fundamentalists portrayed in the book? How does Marji communicate her internal conflicts and confusion about what's going on?

Islamic fundamentalists are portrayed in the book as scary, very violent men with large black beards in Persepolis. Every event in which an Islamic fundamentalist is involved, something unfortunate happens or a new law is set in stone for the Iranian citizens to follow. For example, on page 73 in panels 1-3, an Islamic fundamentalist on the television announced that all of the universities will close at the end of the month. In panel 3, the fundamentalist looks very unamused and plain, with no features that draw attention to him. On page 74, Marji's mother was verbally attacked by fundamentalists which made her sick for several days. Fundamentalists physically attacked crowds on page 76 during an opposition demonstration with knives and bats.

Marji communicates her internal conflicts and confusion about what's going on through her facial expressions, her actions, and with God. God is depicted in the form of a human in Persepolis and in the chapter titled, "The Sheep", Marji yells at God to leave, which then jump-starts her lack of connection and belief in him. Often, Marji has very intense feelings when dealing with her internal conflicts, usually through crying or yelling. For example, on page 73 in panel 7, Marji cried because she believed that she would never be like Marie Curie. Her determination to participate in the demonstrations despite her internal conflict of being possibly hurt or killed, is seen through the graphic novel when she refused to let her parents leave her at home again on page 76.

The Complete Persepolis: Blog Post #1

My Thoughts and Impressions of the Complete Persepolis

So far, I thought Persepolis was very interesting as I have not been exposed much to Iranian culture or the topic of their revolutionary war. The formatting of a comic book made the story come alive and allowed me as a reader to imagine what really happened during this time period as it may be hard to understand without a visual representation due to a lack of cultural experience. With limited words and simplistic images, Satrapi tells the story in a way that allows the audience to imagine the situation in her exact interpretation of it. She relies more on illustrations in order to tell her story rather than paragraphs of text. By only using white and black color in the comic images, Satrapi conveys the actions during this time period with the black signifying darkness or violence and the white symbolizing goodness. The larger the event, for example, when the Shah leaves Iran, large comic strips were used in order to emphasize the significance, while smaller events have much smaller comic strips. The words and images work together as a few words may only be above the comic strip and the images really tie together Satrapi's thoughts. 

Perfume: Chapters 1-10 Reading Blog Questions

1) Describe Grenouille so far; how does Suskind begin creating his character (in other words, how can you justify your understanding/interpretations of Grenouille using the text itself)?

Grenouille is first announced as a gifted and abominable person "in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages" (Chapter 1). From birth he was unwanted as his fishmonger mother and was rescued from death by bystanders. He was taken in by the church and even wet nurses did not want to keep nursing him. Nurses characterized him as the devil due to his lack of scent. From there he was raised by Madame Gaillard, along with other orphans. Throughout the chapters, Grenouille's sense of smell develops and becomes an asset to the tanner as he fought off many diseases that have killed people in the past, making him immune to them. When he was fifteen years old on the anniversary of King Louis XV's coronation, Grenouille makes his first kill, only by following his nose. While Grenouille has had a horrible life, Suskind, the narrator, speaks in an unbiased tone for the audience, keeping feelings and emotions out of the story.

2) We've never really read about a main character whose chief trait is his superhuman sense of smell. What is this all about? What might we learn from this character or story? Is scent a symbol for something else?

Grenouille's chief trait is his superhuman sense of smell, which emphasizes the grimness of the time period. France is described as a horribly smelly region and can be seen as putrid. Suskind describes the horrible smell of humans as "a sweaty-oily, sour cheesy, quite richly repulsive mixture” which can be seen in the nature of humans. During this very tense time period, crime and sin was very high in the cities of France and Grenouille's sense of smell resembles the desperation of the population.

Symbol of the Glass Menagerie: Laura's glass menagerie

In class, Kashfaa and I discussed a major symbol, Laura's glass menagerie. Laura first started collecting these animal figurines over thirteen years ago, presumably after her father left the family and serves as her primary hobby. Not only does it describe her personality, gentle, calm, and old-fashioned, but also served as a coping mechanism during tough times. Laura's prized possession allows her to live in her own world with the animals, a world that is simplistic and easy. She can be herself around these animals and is no where near shy with them.

Because Laura possesses the qualities of glass as up until scene six, she can be considered a transparent character. We never see her personality as she is often very quiet and never speaks more than ten or twenty words as a time. When light (confidence) shines through her however, it reflects a variety of colors showing that she does have much more depth to her that meets the eye.

Amanda's Apologia

Dear Tom and Laura,
As your mother, I always try my hardest to make the right choices for both of you, even though it may not seem like it at certain times. I nag you because I just worry about your future, a future that I will not always be in. Before I met your father, I had dozens of gentlemen callers and I just want you two to have the best possible life and not end up like me – alone. I act solely for you two and want you to achieve everything I know you are capable of. You may think I am annoying or bothersome, but I promise you, I do it in my best interest.

Tom, your father left us all alone, causing our family to suffer as a result, and I nag because I have a lot of fear concerning your future. I want you to be better than him, your father, and I know you can be. I want you to be an independent, strong, and smart man who achieves all of his personal and work goals. I want you to be everything your father wasn’t. I want you to be the best version of yourself.

Laura, you are and will always be my little girl. You may see yourself as crippled but I promise you that I do not see you this way in my eyes. I live in the past, because my youth makes me happy, and I hate to see you waste yours by playing with glass animals and walking around in the cold. My days of finding a gentleman caller were the best of my life and I just want you to find the same kind of delight I had during this exciting time period. I believe finding a gentleman caller will bring you some joy in your life, which is all I want for you.

My dear children, please do not make the mistakes I have. I just want what is best for you and intend to help you both flourish in the real world. Living in the past saves me from the loneliness I face every day with the absence of your father and I try to reflect my wisdom and experience onto you to help you make the right decisions in your life. I love you, and I hope you understand the reasoning behind my choices as a mother.

Love,
Amanda, your loving mother and biggest fan

Reactions, Thoughts, and Questions Regarding the Glass Menagerie

Reactions, Thoughts, and Questions Regarding the Glass Menagerie

In scene one, I thought the mother, Amanda Wingfield, was very insensitive and paranoid in regard to her two children, Tom and Laura. Amanda was nagging Tom to eat all of his food, which annoyed him to a point where he had to speak up to get her to stop. This shows that Tom himself is not afraid to speak his mind. When Amanda told the story of her seventeen gentlemen callers in one afternoon (which the children have heard many times), this shows that she wants to set up her daughter as well as find her a suitor. She tells the story about how she chose the wrong suitor (their father) who abandoned them later, which shows that she wants her daughter to choose the right man for her and not make the same mistakes.

In scene two, Laura only types when she hears her mother ascend from the stairs, symbolizing that she has not been to school. Amanda found out that Laura had not been attending business school and is sad about losing fifty dollars worth of tuition. From this, it can be perceived that they are low on money or on a budget. From this, the mother decided that Laura must get married and has to develop charm, once again showing that she is desperate to send off her daughter and that she has old-fashioned views about the dependency of women on men, which is not uncommon for this time period.

Paul Cantor's "The Nightmare of Romantic Idealism"

What is the author's argument?

Paul Cantor's main argument is that Frankenstein's alternative title, the Modern Prometheus, is named as the book has various Promethean elements that are stereotypically ambiguous. For example, in the book, Victor Frankenstein plays the role of God, however he compares himself to Satan ("All my speculations and hopes are as nothing, and like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained in an eternal hell" (200)). The monster also compares himself to two Miltonic roles, Adam and Satan, which can be seen through the following quotation: "Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed." Cantor argues that by only having two main characters, Shelley made both characters in some sense Satanic.

2-sentence summary of article

This article is about the mythically ambiguous archetypes and stereotypes that the main characters in the novel possess in relation to Satan, God, and Eve. Throughout the novel, romantic idealism is portrayed through the good and evil of creativity (can lead to new creation but is also dangerous).

Why is ambiguity so important here?

Ambiguity is so important here as Frankenstein's characters have an "underlying moral ambiguity" and do not have morally pure motives. Shelley's myth contrasts sharply with that of her husband in Prometheus Unbound where he rejected the figure of Satan as a poetic paradigm due to the moral ambiguity of his nature. Shelley suggests that Satan has both good and bad sides and realized that it would take a struggle for Prometheus to overcome his desire for revenge and become purely good. Mary Shelley displays a deeper sense of the complexity of human nature as she was unwilling to divide up the character of Satan in the same way, parceling out all his good qualities to the rebellious monster and leaving the creator-god, Frankenstein, with all the bad. She maintains the same moral ambiguity in both characters, and in virtually the same proportions.